At Least
by killuakills
Summary: A series of oneshots based off the Bleach series. Ichiruki, and maybe some other pairings... eventually...
1. Chapter 1

_--_

_At least I'll have that._

_At least..._

_--_

Rukia smirked as she faced Ichigo.

"So?"

He glanced down, his frown creasing.

"So what?"

Rukia's upturned expression flipped upside down.

"Ugh, forget it, baka."

She smacked his shoulder and quickened her pace.

He stared after her, merely watching as the gap between them deepened.

--

_At least it's still there._

_At least I can still..._

_--_

Rukia's shirt pocket began to tremor as her cell phone began its annoying beep.

"Hey... The ringtone's different than normal... did you change it?" Ichigo leaned in, frown creasing curiously.

"No!" She said, tossing him a worried glare over her shoulder.

Ichigo was baffled. "Wh-what? Then why--?"

She took off running.

Ichigo muttered a few choice curse words under his breath before chasing after her.

--

_At least I can still protect her._

_At least we still have that._

_--_

"So? What is it?" Ichigo followed her, staying a mere step behind. Just close enough to shove her aside should some danger occur.

"It's in Karakura square." She murmered, staring at the phone. "Come on. Hurry up."

His pace quickened a mere second after hers.

Suddenly, she stopped, Ichigo almost barrelled into her, but managed to grab onto a conviently placed pole before mangling her small body.

"What IS it, Rukia?!" Ichigo growled, annoyed.

She pointed up at the sky, expression blank, almost detached.

Ichigo followed her gaze.

--

_At least I can hold onto that._

_At least as long as I have that, there's a chance._

_--_

A black rift opened in the sky, and out popped a blonde hollow... shinigami?!

Oh yeah.

Ichigo twitched as he remembered Rukia's 'sketch' of the creatures.

Arrancar.

Dang, her drawings sure sucked, but they sure did help you remember names.

Ichigo pulled out his shinigami badge and pulled out his soul from his earthly body.

Rukia followed suit with a Chappi Pill. (Ichigo still thought they were drugs, but still...)

Smooth as silk, Ichigo drew Zangetsu, hefting the blade in his hands with a confident grin.

"Okay, Rukia. You sit back, and--"

Her pale hand lashed out, cutting the air between him and the enemy.

Her luminous eyes met his for a moment, sending a clear message.

Then she stepped forward to fight the strange creature.

--

_At least..._

_At least..._

_Curse it_

_--_


	2. Chapter 2

His eyes widened at the news.

Rukia?

Dead?

Impossible.

Impossible.

Impossibleimpossibleimpossibleimpossible.

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IMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBLEIMPOSSIBL

-

-

-

Rukia.

Ichigo twisted away from the tearstreaked arrancar, expression unscrutiable.

"Where are you going?"

The frikkin' hollow-shinigami's resonant voice rang through the chamber, chilling Ichigo to the bone marrow.

"To save Rukia."

Honestly, he was just glad his voice didn't crack.

"Even though I told you she died."

"I don't believe you."

Even as his resolve hardened in him, began to take substant form, the other part of him, the smart part, the part that got A's on his test, was scared crapless.

Luckily, that part was a lot smaller than the stupid one.

He had taken only a few more steps before the arrancar's voice filled the vast chamber again.

"So stubborn... Is it really alright for you to leave without killing me?"

"I don't have a reason to fight you."

Even as he walked towards Rukia's fading spiritual pressure, he felt doubt begin to squeeze its way into his thoughts.

What if she really was dead?

Impossible.

Okay, then what if she's dying right now?

Impossible.

Well, then what if she dies from some wounds right after you kill whatever hurt her?

IMPOSSIBLE.

Then, unbidden, came the memory of their last spoken words.

_Renji's hand lay there, a barrier._

_A wall._

_A shield._

_Blocking HIM, Ichigo, from RUKIA, the one HE PROTECTS._

_"Enough already," Renji's voice seemed to echo in the sudden silence. "Worrying about a warrior's life on the battle field... is only an insult."_

_Ichigo's eyes were on Rukia, however._

Say something!

Don't just let him tell you what to do!

_But she only stared back, as cursed unreadable as ever._

_Then she took a breath, and a spark of hope kindled in Ichigo's chest._

_"Moving together, huh? No doubt this is because you're worried about me." _Che, there she goes again, thinking so highly of herself. AS IF!

-

...Agh, why did it hurt so much?

-

_"Just as I said before. 'Don't waste your concern on me.'"_

WHAT?! AS IF I CARE **AT ALL!!**

_"I didn't come here..." Her eyes opened, piercing him, seeming to stare straight to the bare depths of his soul, vulnerable. "...Just to be protected by you!"_

FINE! RUKIA! FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!

--

The espada's -Ulquiorra's- voice rang out again.

"What if I were to tell you that I... was the one who brought Inoue Orihime to Hueco Mundo in the first place?"

Anger flooded into him, trickling into his thoughts; Ichigo had been waiting for this kind of oppurtunity.

Lightning fast, his blade was drawn and swung, and all his frustration and problems and anger and messed up-ness were forgotten as he surrendered to the pull of the fight.

Now, finally, an excuse to fight.


	3. Chapter 3

It hurt him everytime she disappeared behind those doors.

It hurt because the memories of that night had never left him.

Every night he would find himself in his room trying to erase the images that traitorously entered his brain.

Time.

And.

Again.

His fists would claw up to his clenched eyes, his back would be doubled over in emotion, his knees sprawled apart on the floor.

Thought she left

She.

Wouldn't.

Leave.

Every night SHE wasn't in his house, these waking dreams would attack him despite

All.

His.

Barriers.

Against.

Them.

He built up the barriers every day, refined them, remade them, every moment of every day SHE was in his presence.

And yet they did no good.

_Her eyes were luminescent with tears as she drew breath to speak._

The tears.

The tears hurt even more because they refused to fall.

_The stiffness and grief held up her back as she turned to leave._

Sadness he knew nothing about.

_The choked sorrow in her voice as she reprimanded him for daring to touch her brother's coat._

And yet at the very same time

She begged him to live.

If only his head weren't spinning with untold confusions.

If only there weren't so many questions raving throughout his thoughts.

If only he had the courage to open his mouth and ask her.

"How can you be apart from me?"


End file.
